USPS To Be Saved By Junk Mail!

Am I alone in my feeling that this is absurd? If nothing else, why would a government agency encourage waste through the creation of more paper?!? The majority of which will be thrown out ...



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...itorsPicks_1

Canada Post has been delivering junk mail for a few years now. My blue box lives by my mailbox, none of that junk even makes it into the house.

That is a conundrum isn't it. Catch 22-ish. I been really hoping that something will come along to save the postal system and that junk mail must work to some degree or another especially if someone is willing to pay to have all that literature (yes I am being very generous should be- litter-ature)
up and paying to have it franked/metered so someone is reading all that junk somewhere? But I agree, sadly it seems very wasteful indeed.

I think junk mail and internet spam work on the same premise - They only need a small percentage of the numbers that they send out to make it worth their while.

We can put a "No Junk Mail" sign on our doors, but if it is enveloped and sent through normal post then we get it.

All a big waste!

Doesn't that go against the "Go green" policy that the USPS adopted and uses as their reason for no longer
wrapping up the FDCs that people order in a plastic sleeve?

Might go against the Go Green policy but also goes for the Go Green policy of money.

When did this happen? I still get all of my serviced FDC's in a cellophane sleeve with a cardboard backing up through the most recent US issues. I have yet to see one FDC that has come back to me without it.

I don't know but I had a friend tell me that the last ones he sent (the pixar stamps) didnt' come back with
the cellophane. Maybe it was because of the size envelopes (the long business type) he used.

The real waste with junk mail is that not one piece has a real stamp on it.

We deliver a lot of junk mail here in Norway as well. With the decrease of mail the junk mail is an important source of income.

They act like the junk mail has diminished because of the internet but is in fact still there. In fact when the internet was going strong before the dot.com bubble burst sales were on the rise for junk mail. The difference is many programs have been enacted much like the opt out no call lists for phone telemarketing. I myself sent a short reply to one or two of these services and for many years now rarely receive any type of metered or junk mail. The mailings in all actuality took a nose dive when these programs were setup. Again USPS grasping at straws. The people do not want it and took back control of their mail and phones.

i totally agree. maybe we could start a petition that says they have to use real stamps. lol

This might actually work!

Use real stamps on all mail, no meters allowed. We have 1 clerk at the local post office that only uses stamps, no matter what type of mail is posted.

Humm, government waste? Is that anything new? If it is "waste" that keeps a
agency afloat, then is it waste? The definition of a weed is something that someone doesn't want. Some people do not like Roses, so to them they are weeds. I like roses, so I consider then a useful plant.

Junk mail employs a LOT of people, from layout artists, advertising firms, printers, delivery people, makes money when mailed, and to some people, brings enjoyment (those trying to save a penny on their expenses).

I suppose whether or not "junk mail" is a waste, is all in the eye of the beholder.

Although there was an entirely separate thread about the USPS postage rate increases, effective January 22, 2012, did anyone catch this paragraph buried in their news release:




The above statement is contained in the third to the last paragraph of this news release:

http://about.usps.com/news/national...pr11_116.htm

How can the USPS in good conscience make the second ounce "free" to business mailers when they are in such financial difficulties?

Am I the only one who is asking the question as to how the sending of more junk mail to consumers without an additional postage requirement by business mailers, is profitable to the post office?

It seems so contrary to the USPS's "Go Green" initiatives, I'm not certain what they intend to accomplish by moving in this direction.